Adherable garment pads

ABSTRACT

A garment pad kit for coupling a garment pad ( 20 A,  20 B,  120 A, or  120 B) to a garment ( 11  or  102 ) is provided. The garment pad kit includes a garment pad ( 20 A,  20 B,  120 A, or  120 B) having a body portion ( 23  and  123 ) having an adhering surface ( 19, 21, 119,  and  121 ) disposed on the body portion. The garment pad kit further includes an adhesive ( 33, 34, 133,  or  134 ) for coupling the adhering surface to a garment ( 11  or  102 ).

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/845,016, filed Aug. 24, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/631,089, filed Jul. 30, 2003, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/399,967, filed Jul. 30,2002, the disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to garment pads and, moreparticularly to, garment pads which may be selectively adhered to agarment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Often, a purchaser of a garment desires to adjust the appearance of thegarment to produce a more aesthetically pleasing shape to the garment orto enhance the appearance or shapeliness of a portion of the wearer'sbody. For instance, it is well known that bras provide the shapelinessand breast support desired by many women. However, when a bra is wornwith certain types of garments, such as summer tops, dresses, andswimsuits, the straps or other such portions of the bra may be visible,resulting in an unsightly appearance. Further, the support structures ofthe bra, such as underwires, straps, and fasteners, can beuncomfortable.

One solution to these problems is a shelf bra. The shelf bra is a simplebra structure that is sewn into a garment and is usually comprised of anextra layer of fabric having a bottom elastic band, which secures underthe breasts and engages the rib cage. Although the shelf bra works forits intended purpose, it is not without problems. For instance, theshelf bra does not provide the support and structure required to shapethe breasts to provide a pleasing appearance, tending to instead providean unflattering flattened appearance to the breasts. Further, the shelfbra does not provide sufficient coverage for the breasts of the user,allowing the shape of the nipple to show through the shelf bra and outergarment.

If a woman does not want to sacrifice shapeliness, coverage andadditional support, she previously had to resort to wearing aconventional bra underneath her top or dress. This in turn posed avariety of problems including the unsightliness of exposed bra strapsand/or other bra components, as well as the standard discomfortsassociated with wearing a conventional bra, i.e., underwires, backhooks, tight elastic and inflexible material. An alternative to wearinga conventional bra under the top is to wear removable cups or pads. Bydoing so, the wearer subjects herself to the possibility of beingembarrassed and/or humiliated if the cups become displaced or, evenworse, fall out. There is also the option of sewing the cups in place,which requires special skills and equipment that the majority of womendo not have the time or the skill to complete.

Further a purchaser of a garment may desire to adjust the appearance ofa garment in other ways to produce a more aesthetically pleasing shapeto the garment or to enhance the appearance or shapeliness of a portionof the wearer's body. For instance, it is well known that shoulder padsmay be added to a garment to enhance the appearance of the shoulders ofthe user. However, not all garments come with shoulder pads installedtherein. Further, even with regard to garments that come with shoulderpads either permanently installed or detachably coupled to the garment,the pads may become lost, such as during dry cleaning, worn out, or theuser may wish to change the shape of the pads to provide a differentaesthetically pleasing shape than provided by the original shoulderpads. One solution has been to sew shoulder pads in place. However, thisrequires special skills and equipment that the majority of people do nothave the time or the skill to complete.

Thus, there exists a need for a garment pad, such as a bra pad orshoulder pad, that is readily couplable to a garment by a personunskilled in the art of sewing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a garmentpad kit for coupling a garment pad to a garment is provided. The garmentpad kit includes a garment pad including a body portion having anadhering surface disposed on the body portion. The garment pad kitfurther includes an adhesive for coupling the adhering surface to agarment.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, agarment is provided. The garment includes a garment fabric layer, agarment pad, and an adhesive disposed between the garment fabric layerand the garment pad. The adhesive couples the garment pad to the garmentfabric layer.

In accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention, agarment pad adapted to be selectively coupled to a garment is provided.The garment pad includes a body having an adhering surface disposed onthe body, the adhering surface adapted to couple to a garment. Thegarment pad further includes a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed onthe adhering surface of the body, wherein the pressure sensitiveadhesive is adapted to temporarily couple the garment pad to a garmentwhen subjected to a pressure above a selected pressure. The garment padalso includes a temperature sensitive material disposed on the adheringsurface of the body, wherein the temperature sensitive material isadapted to permanently couple the garment pad to a garment when thetemperature sensitive material is heated above a selected temperature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated by reference to thefollowing detailed description, when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a garment having a shelf bra as viewedfrom the back side of the garment wherein a back portion of the garmenthas been removed to show an inner portion of the garment with the shelfbra including attached bra pad assemblies formed in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention, wherein the bra pad assemblies areattached to an inner surface of the shelf bra;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of a garment having a shelf bra as viewedfrom inside the back side of the garment wherein a back portion of thegarment has been removed to show an inner portion of the garment withthe shelf bra including attached bra pad assemblies formed in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the bra padassemblies are attached to an outer surface of the shelf bra;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the garment, shelf bra, and one ofthe bra cup assemblies depicted in FIG. 1, wherein the cross sectionalcut is taken substantially through SECTION 3-3 of FIG. 1 and a breast ofthe user is shown in phantom; FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of thegarment, shelf bra, and one of the bra cup assemblies depicted in FIG.2, wherein the cross sectional cut is taken substantially throughSECTION 4-4 of FIG. 2 and a breast of the user is shown in phantom;

FIG. 5 is a top view of a section of bonding fabric formed in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention and suitable for use withthe embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 6 is an elevation view of a garment outfitted with a pair ofshoulder pad assemblies formed in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention, wherein the shoulder pad assemblies are depicted inhidden lines;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the garment and one of the shoulderpad assemblies depicted in FIG. 6, wherein the cross section cut istaken substantially through SECTION 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a top view of a section of bonding fabric formed in accordancewith the present invention and suitable for use with the embodimentdepicted in FIGS. 6 and 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1,3 and 5, a first embodiment formed in accordancewith the present invention is illustrated. Although the illustratedembodiment will be described herein in relation to a shelf bra 12, itshould be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present inventionhas wide application and is suitable for use whenever it is desirable toadhere a garment pad to a garment 11. Depicted in FIGS. 1,3 and 5 are apair of bra pad assemblies 10A and 10B each comprised of a bra pad 20Aor 20B and a section of bonding fabric 22. The bra pads 20A and 20B maybe formed from foam or other soft, pliable material, one suitablematerial being polyurethane foam, to form a body portion 23. The brapads 20A and 20B may be generally domed shaped to conform to and/orprovide shapeliness to a woman's breasts. Further, the bra pads 20A and20B may be trimmed to a custom shape and/or size by a user ormanufacturer.

The bra pads 20A and 20B may be adhered to a garment through thesections of bonding fabric 22. In reference to FIG. 5, the sections ofbonding fabric 22 may be generally circular in shape. A center aperture24 may be centrally located in the bonding fabric 22. A plurality ofrelief cuts 26 may be oriented substantially radially outward from thecenter of the bonding fabric 22. Further, a relief gap 28 may be formedin the bonding fabric 22 such as by removing a triangular shaped portionof the bonding fabric 22 by cutting along edges 30 and 32. The centeraperture 24, relief cuts 26, and relief gap 28 work in combination toallow the substantially planar bonding fabric 22 to be readilyconfigured to a dome shaped configuration which corresponds to the domeshaped configuration of the bra pads. The bonding fabric 22 may bepre-cut by a manufacturer or cut by an end user in order to accommodatea variety of bra pads, having various shapes and/or sizes.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the bonding fabric 22 may include a supportlayer 33, such as a fabric, having a pressure sensitive adhesive layer34 applied to one side of the support layer 33. The bonding fabric 22may be hand-pressed onto the bra pads 20A and 20B through application ofa pressure above a selected pressure. The selected pressure ispreferably the minimum pressure needed to activate the pressuresensitive adhesive 34 to bond to the bra pads 20A and 20B. The bondingfabric 22 may also include a second pressure sensitive adhesive layer 35applied to a second side of the support layer 33. The bonding fabric 22and attached bra pad 20B may be hand-pressed onto the shelf bra 12through application of a pressure above the selected pressure.

The adhesive layers 34 and 35 provide a temporary hold while the userpositions the bra pads 20A and 20B inside her garment. The temporaryhold allows the bra pads 20A and 20B to remain in place until the useris ready to permanently bond the bra pads 20A and 20B to the shelf bra12. The bonding fabric includes a temperature or heat sensitive adhesivewherein the temperature or heat sensitive adhesive may be activated bythe application of heat, such as by use of an iron, to permanently bondthe bra pads 20A and 20B to an inner surface 37 of the shelf bra 12. Thetemperature or heat sensitive adhesive may be intermixed with thepressure sensitive adhesive layers 34 and 35, or may alternately be anintegral part of the support layer 33. For instance, the support layer35 may melt upon application of heat to bond the bonding fabric to agarment and/or bra pad 20A or 20B.

As should be apparent to one skilled in the art, the adherable bra pads20A and 20B allow a wearer to adhere the bra pads directly to the shelfbra 12. This easy process rids the wearer of cup displacement fears,avoids the hassles of sewing the cups in place and, last but not least,eliminates the need for a conventional bra. The adherable bra pads 20Aand 20B may be sold in combination with two pieces of bonding fabric 22in a kit. Such a kit would provide a user with the ability to adhere thebra pads to a garment in a simple manner requiring very little, if any,skill.

Referring to FIGS. 2,4, and 5, an alternate embodiment formed inaccordance with the present invention is depicted. This embodiment isidentical in materials and operation with the above embodiment, with theexception that the bra pads 20A and 20B are adhered to an outer surfaceof the shelf bra 12, as opposed to an inner surface of the shelf bra 12as described for the above embodiment.

Although the above embodiments are described in relation to a shelf bra12 for illustrative purposes, it should be apparent to one skilled inthe art that the bra pads 20A and 20B have wide application and are notlimited to use with a shelf bra 12. For instance, the bra pads 20A and20B may be adhered to many different types and portions of garments,such as directly to the inner surface of a top or to a lining of agarment, for example. However, preferably the bra pads 20A and 20B areadhered to a portion of a garment constructed from fabric having asufficient thickness to cover any imperfections caused by the ironing onof the bra pads 20A and 20B.

In light of the above description of the components of the embodimentsof FIGS. 1-5, the installation of the embodiments will now be described.Referring to FIG. 1, first a user heats an iron to a setting compatiblefor the garment to which the bra pads 20A and 20B will be attached. Theuser may then determine if the shape of the bra pads 20A and 20B needsto be modified. If modifications are required, they may be trimmedaccordingly. If the garment is a shelf bra as depicted above, the usermay then choose if the bra pads 20A and 20B will be adhered to the inneror outer surface of the shelf bra 12. A well known protective liner (notshown) coupled to one side of the bonding fabric 22 may be removed. Thebonding fabric 22 may be applied to an inner adhering surface 19 of eachof the bra pads 20A and 20B if the bra pads 20A and 20B are to becoupled to an outer surface of the shelf bra 12. If the bra pads 20A and20B are to be coupled to an inner surface of the shelf bra 12, then thebonding fabric 22 may be coupled to an outer adhering surface 21 of theeach of the bra pads 20A and 20B.

The garment may then be donned. A well known protective paper liner (notshown) coupled to the remaining side of the bonding fabric 22 may beremoved. The bra pads 20A and 20B may then be positioned within thegarment 11, and coupled to the garment 11 through firm hand pressure.The garment 11 may then be carefully removed and heat applied to the brapads 20A and 20B until the temperature/heat sensitive adhesive hasmelted, permanently bonding the bra pads 20A and 20B to the garment 11.Once the garment 11 has cooled, the installation process is complete andthe garment 11 may be worn.

Referring to FIGS. 6-8, a second alternate embodiment formed inaccordance with the present invention is depicted. This embodiment issimilar in materials and operation with the above described embodiments,with the exception that the bra pads of the above embodiment arereplaced with a pair of shoulder pad assemblies 100A and 100B shaped toenhance the appearance of a wearer's shoulders, and that the garmentpads are adhered to the shoulder portion 104A and 104B of a garment 102instead of a shelf bra.

Referring to FIG. 8, the bonding fabric 122 of this embodiment may bedome shaped and may be formed from joining a back panel 144, a frontpanel 146, and an end panel 148 to one another. The back panel 144,shaped to conform to the back of a wearer's shoulder, is coupled to thefront panel 146, shaped to conform to the front of the wearer'sshoulder, along a center seam 140. The front and back panels 144 and 146are joined to the end panel 148 along a shoulder seam 142 in such amanner to provide a dome shape to the bonding fabric 122. The shoulderseam 142 is oriented substantially parallel with the longitudinal lengthof the wearer's shoulders. Alternately, the bonding fabric 122 may beflat and shaped by the end user into a selected shape.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the bonding fabric 122 may be pre-cut by amanufacturer or cut by an end user in order to accommodate a variety ofgarments 102 and/or to provide a variety of aesthetically pleasingshapes to the garment 102. The bonding fabric 122 includes a supportlayer 133 having a pressure sensitive adhesive 134 applied to a firstside so that the bonding fabric 122 may be hand-pressed onto an adheringsurface 119 or 121 of the shoulder pads 120A and 120B. The bondingfabric 122 includes a pressure sensitive adhesive 135 applied to asecond side. The bonding fabric 122 may be coupled to the garment 102 byhand-pressing the shoulder pad 120A or 120B against the pressuresensitive adhesive 135 applied to the second side of the support layer133. The pressure sensitive adhesive 134 provides a temporary hold whilethe user positions the shoulder pads 120A and 120B and their associatedbody portions 123 inside the garment 102. The temporary hold allows theshoulder pads 120A and 120B to remain in place until the user is readyto permanently bond the shoulder pads 120A and 120B to the garment 102.The bonding fabric 122 includes a temperature/heat sensitive adhesiveapplied to the first and second sides of the support layer. The heatsensitive adhesive may be activated by the application of heat, such asby use of an iron, to permanently bond the shoulder pads 120A and 120Bto an inner surface 136 of the garment 102.

As should be apparent to one skilled in the art, the adherable shoulderpads 120A and 120B allow a wearer to adhere the shoulder pads 120A and120B directly to their garment 102. This easy process rids the wearer ofshoulder pad displacement or loss problems, avoids the hassles of sewingthe shoulder pads 120A and 120B in place and, last but not least, allowsthe user to adhere alternately shaped shoulder pads 120A and 120B to agarment 102 to change the look of the garment, and/or allows a user toadd shoulder pads 120A and 120B to a garment not originally suppliedwith shoulder pads. The adherable shoulder pads 120A and 120B may besold in combination with two pieces of bonding fabric 122 in a kit. Sucha kit would provide a user with the ability to adhere the shoulder padsto a garment in a simple manner requiring very little, if any, skill.

Although in the above embodiments, the bonding fabric and/or adhesivesare separate components subsequently adhered to a garment pad, it shouldbe apparent to one skilled in the art that the bonding fabric and/oradhesives may be an integral part of the garment pad. Thus, as should beapparent to those skilled in the art, one of the pressure sensitiveadhesive layers and/or the support layer may be eliminated.

Although in the above embodiments, pressure sensitive adhesive layersare described, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe pressure sensitive adhesive layers are optional and may beeliminated if desired.

Further, although the above embodiments are described for use with abonding fabric, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe garment pads may be adhered to a garment through the use of anadhesive applied to the garment pad and/or garment and the use of thebonding fabric eliminated. For instance, a user may apply a liquid orspray adhesive to the garment pad to adhere, either permanently ortemporarily, the garment pad to a garment. In one working embodiment, aurethane adhesive in liquid form is applied to the garment pad and thegarment pad is pressed onto the garment. Once the urethane adhesivecures, the garment pad is thereby permanently adhered to the garment andthe garment may be used in its normal manner.

Further still, although the above embodiments are described for use witha bonding fabric that is heat activated to permanently adhere thegarment pad to the garment, it should be apparent to those skilled inthe art that the heat activated adhesive may be eliminated. Forinstance, for the above described embodiments, the heat sensitive layermay be eliminated, and the bra pads semi-permanently or permanentlyadhered to the garment solely through the use of pressure sensitiveadhesive applied between the garment pad and the garment at the locationof attachment. For instance, a user may, in accordance with the presentinvention, use double stick adhesive or double-sided tape to apply agarment pad to the garment by placing the double stick adhesive betweenthe garment and the garment pad and applying pressure, thereby couplingthe garment pad to the garment.

The double stick adhesive may be arcuate in shape when in a planarconfiguration to aid in the forming of the double stick adhesive into apartial dome shaped configuration to match the shape of a dome shapedgarment pad. The double stick adhesive may be in a form similar to thebonding fabric depicted in FIG. 5 and have relief cuts, relief gaps,and/or a center aperture disposed therein to aid in the formation of thedouble stick tape from a planar configuration to an arcuate or partialdome shaped configuration. In one actual embodiment, the double stickadhesive is formed from an elongate arcuate strip about 7″ in length.The elongate arcuate strip has an inner radius of about 6″ with thewidth of the strip varying from about 2.125″ at a middle portion toabout 1.75″ at the ends. Relief cuts are disposed radially outward fromthe inner radius of the elongate arcuate strip to aid in the formationof the elongate arcuate strip from a planar configuration to a partialdome shaped configuration.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be appreciated that various changes can be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A bra pad assembly adapted to be selectively coupled to a garmentthat is not a brassiere, the bra pad assembly comprising: (a) athree-dimensional permanent dome shaped bra pad defined by an innerseamless, continuous, unbroken curved concave surface and an outerseamless, continuous, unbroken curved convex adhering surface and a bodyportion extending between the inner seamless, continuous, unbrokencurved concave surface and the outer seamless, continuous, unbrokencurved convex adhering surface, wherein the body portion is ahomogeneous foam solid having a thickness, wherein the bra pad is shapedto cup a breast of a user and provide shapeliness to the breast; and (b)an adhesive disposed on the outer seamless, continuous, unbroken curvedconvex adhering surface of the bra pad suitable for adhering the bra padto a garment that is not a brassiere.
 2. The bra pad assembly of claim1, wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive adapted totemporarily couple the bra pad to a garment that is not a brassiere whensubjected to a pressure.
 3. The bra pad assembly of claim 1, wherein thebra pad is adapted to cup a breast of a user and provides the form of anenhanced shape of the breast of the user.
 4. The bra pad assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the adhesive is a liquid adhesive that is curable topermanently couple the bra pad to a garment that is not a brassiere. 5.A bra pad assembly adapted to be selectively coupled to a garment thatis not a brassiere, the bra pad assembly consisting of: (a) athree-dimensional permanent dome shaped bra pad defined by an innerseamless, curved, continuous, unbroken concave surface and an outerseamless, curved, continuous, unbroken convex adhering surface and abody portion extending between the inner seamless, curved, continuous,unbroken concave surface and the outer seamless, curved, continuous,unbroken convex adhering surface, wherein the body portion is ahomogeneous foam solid having a thickness, wherein the bra pad is shapedto cup a breast of a user and provide shapeliness to the breast; and (b)an adhesive disposed on the outer seamless, curved, continuous, unbrokenconvex adhering surface of the bra pad suitable for adhering the bra padto a garment that is not a brassiere.
 6. The bra pad assembly of claim5, wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive adapted totemporarily couple the bra pad to a garment that is not a brassiere whensubjected to a pressure.
 7. The bra pad assembly of claim 5, wherein theadhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive adapted to permanently couplethe bra pad to a garment that is not a brassiere when subjected to apressure.
 8. The bra pad assembly of claim 5, wherein the adhesive is aliquid adhesive that is curable to permanently couple the bra pad to agarment that is not a brassiere.
 9. A method of providing shapeliness toa breast without the use of a brassiere, the method comprising: (a)providing a bra pad assembly, comprising: (i) a three-dimensionalpermanent dome shaped bra pad defined by an inner seamless, curved,continuous, unbroken concave surface and an outer seamless, curved,continuous, unbroken convex adhering surface and a body portionextending between the inner seamless, curved, continuous, unbrokenconcave surface and the outer seamless, curved, continuous, unbrokenconvex adhering surface, wherein the body portion is a homogeneous foamsolid having a thickness, wherein the bra pad is shaped to cup a breastof a user and provide shapeliness to the breast; and (ii) an adhesivedisposed on the outer seamless, curved, continuous, unbroken convexadhering surface of the bra pad; (b) positioning the bra pad within aninterior portion of a garment that is not a brassiere such that theinner seamless, curved, continuous, unbroken concave surface of the brapad is positioned to engage and provide shapeliness to a breast; and (c)applying pressure to one of the bra pad and the garment to adhere theouter seamless, curved, continuous, unbroken convex adhering surface ofthe bra pad to an interior surface of the garment.
 10. The bra padassembly of claim 9, wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitiveadhesive adapted to temporarily couple the bra pad to a garment that isnot a brassiere when subjected to a pressure.
 11. The bra pad assemblyof claim 9, wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesiveadapted to permanently couple the bra pad to a garment that is not abrassiere when subjected to a pressure.
 12. The bra pad assembly ofclaim 1, wherein no protrusions extend from the outer seamless,continuous, unbroken curved convex adhering surface of the bra pad.